Trump taps another Palm Beach resident for his administration

Monday

President Donald Trump late Thursday announced his intention to nominate investment manager and Republican donor Duke Buchan III of Palm Beach to be ambassador to both Spain and Andorra.

Buchan lives on the North End of Palm Beach, about 6 miles from Trump’s Mar-a-Lago estate.

He is the founder and CEO of Hunter Global Investors L.P. According to the White House, Buchan and his family also "own and manage farms that grow over a 100 varieties of heirloom vegetables and raise horses."

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In 2016, Buchan contributed more than $350,000 to the Republican National Committee and a variety of state Republican parties, according to OpenSecrets.org.

Buchan speaks Spanish and has a "working knowledge" of Catalan, the official language of Andorra, according to the White House. He established an endowment focused on Spanish languages, literature, and culture at the University of North Carolina, where he received a B.A. in economics and Spanish. Buchan also has an M.B.A from Harvard Business School and studied at La Universidad de Valencia, and La Universidad de Sevilla in Spain.

Other Palm Beach residents in the Trump administration include Commerce Secretary Wilbur Ross and U.S. Trade Representative Robert Lighthizer.

Woody Johnson

Daily News Staff Writer

Earlier this year, Buchan was among a handful of island residents reportedly in line for ambassadorships. Others were Robin Bernstein (Dominican Republic), Woody Johnson (United Kingdom) and Patrick Park (Austria). Brian Burns also was on the short list for Ireland but withdrew from consideration citing health concerns.

This week, Johnson was among dozens of presidential nominees confirmed by the Senate, according to Politico.